In the process of the production of butter, glycerides of butterfat crystallize with the formation of different space lattices. Depending on the conditions of cooling, crystals of various sizes and configurations with different physical properties are formed, which determines the crystalline structure of solidified fat, its physical and chemical properties, and therefore, the consistency of the finished product. The paper explores the impact of the flow two-stage method for physical aging of cream on the pattern of the crystallization of glycerides of butterfat. Comparative X-ray crystallographic and differential-scanning studies of butter, produced using the method of churning, were carried out. The method of differential scanning calorimetry was used to study thermal effects of the test sample of butter (received by churning cream which was aged using the flow method) and the control sample (received by churning cream which was aged using the conventional method). When analyzing data, no exothermic peaks, corresponding to processes that release heat, were observed. The polymorphism and the type of crystalline lattice of glycerides in the butter samples were analyzed using the method of X-ray diffraction. The separate group character of solidification of butterfat – low-melting, medium- melting and high-melting glycerides – was determined. X-ray crystallography did not reveal fundamental differences in the pattern of the crystallization of glycerides and formation of polymorphic modifications with different types of crystalline structure. This indicates the uniformity of type of successive phase changes of butterfat in butter, both after fast cooling of cream by vacuum atomization, followed by aftercooling in a scraped heat exchanger, and in case of using the conventional method of physical aging of cream.
Aging of cream, butter, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogram, Х-ray diffraction, polymorphism, crystalline structure
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